Relative: JetBlue co-pilot consistently calm

Updated on: March 29, 2012 / 8:52 PM
/ CBS/AP

(CBS/AP) Clayton Frederick Osbon was at the helm of a cross-country JetBlue flight when he told his co-pilot "things don't matter."

That moment was the beginning of a string of bizarre incidents by Osbon midair which led to an emergency landing in Texas for the Las Vegas-bound plane. The man who safely landed the plane was First Officer Jason Wesley Dowd of flight 191, currently in New York being debriefed by airline officials.

Osbon told his co-pilot that "things don't matter" shortly after JetBlue Flight 191 from New York departed Tuesday, according to an affidavit. Court documents say Osbon told the plane's first officer that "we're not going to Vegas" and began what he described as a sermon.

"The (first officer) became really worried when Osbon said `we need to take a leap of faith,"' according to the sworn affidavit given by an FBI agent. "Osbon started trying to correlate completely unrelated numbers like different radio frequencies, and he talked about sins in Las Vegas."

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that Dowd managed to get Osbon out of the cockpit after the captain began talking incoherently and turning off the jet's radios.

JetBlue co-pilot hailed as hero

Once Osbon left the flight deck, Dowd called an off-duty pilot to help in the cockpit, locked the door and urged passengers to restrain the troubled Captain. Then Dowd and the off-duty pilot both radioed for help.

Passengers wrestled Osbon to the ground after he left the cockpit and later sprinted down the cabin yelling and urging everyone to pray. The plane made an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas. No one on board was seriously hurt.

Dowd's father-in-law William Kostal said the family was proud, but not surprised.

"He's a great guy. I think he's maybe one of the best son-in-laws I could have. I mean he'd give you the shirt off his back if you want it," Kostal said.

The mother-in-law of Dowd says he doesn't want to be considered a hero, and that she's not surprised he acted cool under pressure.

Ruth Ann Kostal says he hasn't been able to come home yet because he's still being interviewed by federal authorities in New York.

Dowd is an Ohio native who still lives in his hometown of Salem. FAA records show he was a certified flight instructor until 2006.